


Guards of the Hermit Kingdom

by Charred_Cinnamon



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Found Family, Homelessness, Minor Injuries, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Supportive Everyone Else, Tags May Change, Time Skips, medievial mixed with modern, mentally abusive parents, small blood warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:15:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28710324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charred_Cinnamon/pseuds/Charred_Cinnamon
Summary: He had been born on the streets, his mother having been evicted from her home during pregnancy. For the past twelve years of his life, she was all she had.But now she was gone. Died due to starvation. And now he had nothing.Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder._____________________________________False had always enjoyed watching the guards train in the camp surrounding the palace. They didn't mind her being there, and she had even managed to pick a few things up, always besting her siblings in their play battles. But she had always longed for more. However, being born of royal status, that was impossible, even if she was last in line for the throne.
Relationships: just not spoiling, there will be romantic relationships
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	1. New Beginnings

Grian sobbed as he leaned over the lifeless body of his mother. The sun was just coming over the horizon, rain starting to fall, dark clouds covering the slowly brightening sky. It only served to make today even sadder.

Grian had no idea what he would do now. He was completely on his own. Completely at the mercy of the people and environment around him. Sure, it had always been like this. Grian had always had to fight to survive on the streets. But at least he hadn't been suffering alone. From now on though, he would be.

He had been born on the streets, his mother having been evicted from her home during pregnancy. For the past twelve years of his life, she was all he had. 

But now she was gone. Died due to starvation. And now he had nothing. 

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and a voice behind him.

"Hey, is everything alright?"

\--------

Xisuma walked through the rain, checking the streets for danger, as was the job of a dawn patrol. As general, he technically didn't have to do this. But he did not see himself as above his fellow guards to not do their duties with them. And so, at the earliest hours of the morning, in the rain, with his second in command, Wels, he was out here patrolling the streets.

"Xisuma, wait." Wels told him. They stopped next to a long alley way. Xisuma looked down it to see the reason Wels had stopped them. There was a kid. He looked to be around twelve. From this angle, the most detail X could make out was his light blonde hair. As he stepped closer however, he could hear the sound of crying, and noticed the kid was way thinner than anyone should be. Then he saw the woman in front of him. She looked to be in the same, if not worse, condition as the kid. Xisuma couldn't see her breathing, and feared the worst. He carefully put a hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Hey, is everything alright?"

\--------

Grian he pushed away from the stranger as fast as he could, hyperventilating, still crying hard, and even more scared than he was before. Although, it only took him a few seconds to realize this man was a guard, and was most likely not going to hurt him. The stranger knelt down, and looked at Grian with an expression that confirmed exactly that.

"Whoa, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help. My name is Xisuma, and I'm the general of The Hermit Kingdom Guard. Now, do you think you could tell me what's going on?" Xisuma asked him in a gentle tone of voice. It kind of sounded to Grian as if he was leaving room for him to not answer if he didn't want to. But Grian decided to trust the general, and told him what had happened.

"My- my mother is- is dead. She wa- wasn't able to ea- eat en- enough." He choked through his sobs. By now, Xisuma's partner had joined them at the end of the alley. They shared a look of concern for the boy, and then Xisuma turned back to Grian.

"Will you excuse us for one moment?" he asked. Grian nodded. Then Xisuma stood and brought his partner into a private conversation, of which Grian had only caught a small snippet of.

_"Are you crazy? He's a kid. We ca-" The partner began_

_"And that's exactly why we can't just leave him here." Xisuma had cut him off._

They argued for a bit longer, before Xisuma's partner had seemed to reluctantly agree to whatever idea the general had presented. They turned back to face Grian, both smiling, and even though the other guard had seemed against the idea(whatever it was) at first, his smile seemed genuine as he let Xisuma tell the kid the verdict.

"If it's okay with you, we'd like to take you back to our camp to live and train with us." the general told Grian, and his face lit up at the idea. Of course he wanted to go. Number one, it would get him off the streets, and two being a guard had always seemed fun to Grian. So he nodded vigorously and quickly enveloped the general in a hug, an action he would have regretted, if the general hadn't returned it.

"Before we go however," the other guard started "We would like to know your name."

"Grian." He told them.

"Nice to meet you, Grian. I'm Wels, the second in command to Xisuma here." Wels replied, holding his hand out for Grian to shake, which he did. "Xisuma, why don't you get him home? I'll finish with the rest of the patrol." Xisuma nodded and Wels walked away. And after a final goodbye to his mother, Grian walked eagerly with Xisuma back to the guard camp.

Back to his new home.

\-------- **The Next Day** \--------

False was careful to avoid her parents as she made the trip down to the guard camp. They had no idea she did this. "This" being to sneak out of the palace every day to go watch the guards train. It was a habit she had picked up after her siblings had started getting dragged away for their lessons more and more often. False had no idea what the lessons were for exactly, as any attempt to talk about it was quickly shut down by her parents. Why she didn't get them herself, False also did not know. All she knew was that she had been bored out of her mind and needed something to do. And something to do she had found.

It had started by simply watching from her bedroom window. But soon she got bored of that, and wanted a closer look. Somehow, she had made her way down to the camp, and she had found a small perch to watch them from, avoiding getting caught. Until one day she was. The guard did not seem mad though. He invited her in, and introduced himself as Xisuma, the general. False had remembered seeing him a couple of times speaking with her father. He had shown her a spot in the camp where she could continue her watching, and agreed to never tell her father, something the other guards followed suit in. False had made good friends with a lot of them, and enjoyed the company they provided her.

As the years passed, the camp became a second home for False, where she would hang out with the guards during their breaks, loving the stories they would tell her of their adventures on patrols.

False had always enjoyed watching the guards train in the camp surrounding the palace. They didn't mind her being there, and she had even managed to pick a few things up, always besting her siblings in their play battles. But she had always longed for more. However, being born of royal status, that was impossible, even if she was last in line for the throne.

Cub was the oldest, at fourteen, then came Stress, a year younger, and finally False, only twelve years old. She didn't understand why being a guard was deemed impossible for her. It's not like she was doing anything else anyways. She shrugged the thoughts off as she made her way inside the camp and to her usual spot. Greeting the other guards on her way.

When she got there, she took note of a new face among the crowd standing with Xisuma. The kid had sandy blonde hair that fell over his forehead in a fringe. He was very, _very_ skinny. Too skinny to be healthy. And his light blue eyes seemed dull, but at the same time full of excitement. Xisuma seemed to notice False, and walked over to her, bringing the kid with him.

"Hello, False." He greeted.

"Hi, X. Did you get a new trainee?"

"Kind of. This is Grian." X replied. Grian held out his hand to shake it, which False promptly did. "Me and Wels rescued him off the streets yesterday morning on our patrol, and he'll be staying and training here with us from now on."

"It's nice to meet you, Grian." False told him.

"You too. Are you also training?" He asked.

"No. I just come down here to watch and get away from the everlasting boredom up in the palace. My parents seem to care more about my siblings than me, so it's nice to hang out here with people who don't ignore my existence." That seemed to strike a nerve in the boy, as his expression fell and he looked away from False.

"Well at least you _have_ parents." He said rather harshly. False looked to Xisuma, hoping for an explanation.

"Probably should have mentioned this, but Grian is an orphan. We found him just after his mother died of starvation." Xisuma explained to her. False, realizing what she had just done, quickly rushed to apologize.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry. I probably sound super entitled complaining about stuff like that. If I had known I wouldn't have said anything." She said.

"It's okay, don't worry. You had no way of knowing. Besides we all have things in our lives that make them difficult. I'm sorry your parents don't pay attention to you." Grian replied. False simply nodded. She decided to change the subject.

"So, when do you start training?" she asked. This seemed to bring some of the excitement back to Grian.

"Not until Xisuma says I'm healthy enough. But once I am, he said he's going to train me himself." The boy was all smiles again, seeming to have completely forgotten about the conversation from just a few moments ago. They carried on with their conversation, talking mainly about Grian's future training. The whole time X looked like he was contemplating something. Soon it looked like he had reached a decision on the debate in his head. False was not expecting the words that came out of Xisuma's mouth.

"False, would you like to join us? I feel like you've been sitting on the sidelines for too long, and you've watched us more than enough to know what you're doing, so-"

False knew her answer right away. She gave a very quick and excited "Yes!" which Xisuma laughed slightly at. Grian looked even more excited with the prospect of a partner to train with.

"Alright then. Why don't you two sit here and hang out for the rest of the day. Hopefully we can get you two started soon enough."

\--------

As False made her way back to the palace, she couldn't keep the smile off her face. _'Real guard training! Could life get any better?'_ She thought to herself. Soon she was in her bed, falling fast asleep. The last thought to cross her mind as she finally drifted off was that this had marked a new beginning for False. One where she could actually do something with her life.


	2. Fun First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian and False begin their training as guards. What other adventures could the day hold?

It was quite a while before Grian was able to start training, seeing as there were several glaring issues. The most prominent of which was that you could count his ribs. So before anything else, Xisuma had determined that the boy needed to get some food in him. And so Grian was put on a proper diet for the foreseeable future. Within a few months, Grian was at a normal and healthy weight.

Despite this however, he was still a scrawny kid. So speed and strength came next. Everyday, Xisuma took him on morning jogs around the Capitol, each one getting longer and longer as Grian built up his endurance. After a short, thirty minute break, Xisuma had him doing any and all kinds of strength building exercises he could think of. By the end of the day, Grian could barely do more than flop down onto his bed, not even bothering to get under the covers.

All of this paid off however. And what made it less unbearable was that False had been there with him through all of it. She didn’t have to. X said she was clear to start training already, but she said that she had wanted to wait for Grian. That they were doing this together.

All in all, it took around six months for Grian to be ready. And now the day was finally here. He, Xisuma, and Wels were just waiting for False.

  
  


\--------

  
  


False was doing her best to sneak out of the palace. Today was her first day of guard training and she was  _ not _ going to miss it. She almost made it to the final staircase down to her usual exit, when she heard footsteps behind her, and immediately after, the voice of her eldest sibling, Cub.

“False! Hey! What are you up to?” he asked. His voice was cheerful, something False didn’t hear too much from her siblings. She turned around to see that Stress was with him.

“Oh not much. Just going out.” she lied. She was hoping they would go away soon so she could get down to the guard camp, a thought that made her sad as she didn’t get to hang out with her siblings much.

“Great, then! We can go with you!” Stress beamed.

“Yeah. Mom and Dad said we don’t have a lesson today. They said we can go anywhere as long as we bring a guard with us, so we were going to head down to the camp to ask Xisuma if he would be our escort.”

“You should come with us. We rarely ever get to spend time together. We miss you, Falsie. Please?” Stress begged her. False knew she was caught. One way or another, they were going to find out where she had been going, so she decided to just tell them right then and there

“Actually, I can’t.” she bagan. Cub and Stress looked quizzically at her, the disappointment in their gaze clear to anyone. “There’s something I need to tell you. Ever since you two started your lessons with Mom and Dad, I went to go watch the guards train in the camp. Like, actually go down there. And today, I was going to start training with them myself.” she explained to them.

False looked away, expecting Stress and Cub to yell at her. Tell her she’s crazy. Go tell their parents. She tensed up when Cub began to speak.

“False, that is awesome.” He told her. False could hear the smile in his voice.

“You’re not mad?” she asked.

“False, why would we be mad?” Cub asked in return.

“Yeah. Falsie, we’re happy you’ve found something you love doing.” Stress told her warmly. “In fact, forget going out, we want to stay and watch you.”

“Really?” False asked her siblings. She was happy that they were being so supportive.

“Of course.” Cub responded, like it was ridiculous to even ask that. “Now let’s head down there so you aren’t late!” They all eagerly made their way to the guards’ camp.

  
  


\--------

  
  


Xisuma saw Grian’s face light up when he saw False finally arrive, and he also couldn’t help but notice the other two people she brought with her.

“Finally! There you are, False.” Xisuma said when False finally arrived. He didn’t seem upset though. “What kept you anyway? Also.. Stress, Cub. What brings you here?” He said politely, and gave them a greeting nod.

“Sorry, Xisuma. We’re the ones who held her up. We didn’t know she was going to start training with you. We got the day off and tried to see if False wanted to hang out with us, but then she told us about this, and Cub and I just had to see it for ourselves.” Stress explained enthusiastically.

“If it’s okay with you that is” Cub clarified after her.

“Of course. There’s a place over there you can sit.” Xisuma pointed to a shady spot by some crates. The two headed off. Xisuma turned to face Grian and False. “Now, lets begin.”

  
  


\--------

  
  


Grian had been stressed to say the least. He was dying to show Xisuma that he was indeed ready, that he could handle this. But throughout the day, he just kept slipping up. It didn’t help that False seemed to be a natural, having already seen all this stuff a million times. But for Grian, it just wasn’t clicking.

When Xisuma taught him the stances and movements, he was able to do them perfectly. They worked on the fundamentals for hours before trying some sparring. It wasn’t anything too difficult, just trying to knock the other out of a circle Xisuma had drawn. Grian thought he was doing pretty well for his first day up until that point. But putting everything into context was a completely different story.

His stance was always too narrow, he was never fast enough to avoid False’s blows, or land any of his own. Grian told himself before each match that it was going to be different. But it never was. Grian told himself the same this round, and expected the same result as the others. Xisuma moved to the middle of the circle, and Grian knew that another match was coming.

“Ready your positions.” Xisuma gave the command. False and Grian moved to opposite sides of the circle and faced away from each other, their wooden swords grasped firmly in their hands ready to strike. 

Grian went through the fundamentals in his head.  _ ‘Stance wide, body lowered, stay on the balls of the feet, relax your upper body, don’t hesitate.’ _ he told himself over and over again. His thoughts were interrupted when Xisuma spoke again.

“If either of you are not ready, please speak now.” Silence. “Alright then. Begin.” he then proceeded to quickly step out of the circle, just narrowly avoiding the two trainees as their swords clashed.

Grian could feel False trying to push him back. He could feel himself about to stumble right out of the circle, giving False another easy win. 

But he didn’t.

Do you ever have those moments, where you’ve been practicing something for what feels like forever, unable to get it, until it suddenly just clicks? Like you’ve been able to do it perfectly all your life.

Grian didn’t know what exactly happened. Maybe he was just sick of losing fight after fight. Perhaps it was just that he finally understood it. But for once, he could feel himself fighting back.

With all the strength he could muster, Grian pushed back against False, and nearly sent her out of the circle. But she regained her balance and prepared to make another move. But by then, Grian was already there, and she just barely dodged him. They circled each other for a moment before each making their next moves.

False came running towards Grian, ready to deal a blow, but he was too fast for her, ducking out of the way, and getting behind her. She turned around, only to be met by his sword coming towards her face, threatening to send her out. She met it with her own, and for a while, that’s how it went. The two trading, blocking, dodging, and occasionally landing hits on the other.

Cub and Stress were on the edge of their seats, this time actually wondering who would be victorious. And at last, for the first time today, the victor was Grian. With one swift and forceful swing of his sword, he sent False stumbling back and out of the circle.

Grian was out of breath. That was the longest he had ever lasted in a match, and the first one he had won. He saw False chatting with her siblings, the two most likely consoling her on losing, however she didn’t even look upset. She looked like she was happy for Grian. He also noticed Xisuma looking at him. He had a beaming smile on his face, and you could see the pride shining in his eyes. He approached Grian and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Great job Grian. I knew you’d get it eventually. I’m so proud of you.” he told him.

“Thank.... You…. Xisuma. I’m sorry.... I’m just... really out of breath.” Grian wheezed back his thanks. Xisuma gave a light laugh.

“You’re fine. I get it. That was a long one. Why don’t you go sit down and get some water, and then we can get going again.” Xisuma suggested. Grian nodded, and then went and did just that. 

A few minutes into his water break, False came and sat by Grian, her siblings in tow.

“Grian that was amazing! What happened?” False told him, voice laced with joy, and gave him a tight hug.

“I’m not sure. It just finally clicked I guess.”

“Well, whatever it was, it’s just great that you’ve finally gotten it down.” She said. Then her face lit up again. “Oh! I don’t believe you’ve properly met these two yet.” She gestured to the two standing behind her.

“I haven’t, no.”

“Well then, Grian, Cub and Stress. Cub and Stress, Grian.” She gestured between the three.

Now, Grian could handle being around False. She acted so un-royal-like that he sometimes forgot she was even a princess at all. But Cub and Stress were clearly different. Everything about them looked like the textbook example of royalty to him. And for the very briefest of moments, he was freaking out. But he very quickly learned that appearances weren’t everything.

Stress spoke first. She was a bit loud and  _ very _ enthusiastic. And rather than offer her hand and wait for Grian to shake it, she quickly grabbed it, gave it one big shake, and just as quickly let it fall back to his side.

“Hello! Pleasure to meet you! I’m Falsie’s older sister, though you probably already knew that. Anyways, that last match of yours was very impressive.” She said. Her words came out very fast.

“Well let’s just hope I can do it again.” Grian replied.

“I’m sure you will.” Cub said. “And I’m looking forward to seeing it.” He definitely seemed to be a lot more chilled out than Stress was. It didn’t take long for Grian to figure out that the two of them were just as easy to be around as False was.

They all chatted for a bit longer, before Xisuma called the two trainees back to continue for the day.

  
  


\--------

  
  


The rest of the day went a lot more in Grian’s favor. False still won her fair share of sparring matches, but not without Grian giving her a run for her money. She wasn’t mad whenever she lost though. Far from it. She was happy to see her friend getting better. He had even caught up enough to where Xisma had decided to spend the last few hours of training showing them a few more advanced moves, which Grian got much faster than before.

It was around three in the afternoon when they finished. False was tired. She was resting with her siblings and Grian by some storage crates in the shade. The four were changed into some more casual clothing, and were discussing plans to go check out the market. 

“Yeah but you heard mom and dad.” Cub was saying. “If we go out, then we have to take a guard with us.”

“We’ve got two right here!” Stress argued back. Making a big movement with her arm in their direction.

“I’m not sure you want us protecting you just yet. We only  _ just _ started today.” False mentioned. “Plus, you know they’ll double check.”

“Fine.” Stress reluctantly gave in, jokingly rolling her eyes at False. “Let’s go ask Xisuma.” The four got up to go find the general.

Their search lasted only a few minutes, as they finally saw Xisuma heading towards the Officers’ Quarters, which included his and Wel’s rooms, as well as the Senior guards, after a couple laps around the area. They approached him just as he got to the door. Xisuma looked surprised to see them, but greeted them kindly nonetheless.

“Oh, hello you four. What brings you here?” he asked them. As the oldest of the group, False, Stress, and Grian had all decided that Cub would be the one to ask.

“We were thinking about going out to check out the market, but our parents said that if we went out, we had to take a guard with us. We get it if you’re busy, we can go ask someone else.” 

After a few moments of which he looked very deep in thought, he finally responded, “Hmm. I  _ do _ have quite a lot I need to get done, so I wouldn’t be able to go with you. Hold on one minute.” Xisuma disappeared behind the door, only to reappear with Wels, who looked like he had just been woken up(because he had).

“Alright. I was told I was needed.” He said. Cub once again explained the situation. Wels looked at Xisuma with a deadpan expression. “You woke me up to babysit?”

“Don’t think of it as babysitting. It’s more like you’re escorting them.” Xisuma answered. “Besides its part of our job to protect the royal family.”

“Why can’t you do it? Or one of the Senior guards?”

“I have work to do, and they’re all out on patrol.” Xisuma looked at Wels hopefully, and at last he finally gave in.

“Alright. Just give me some time to get ready.”

  
  


\--------

  
  


Despite his earlier reluctance, Wels was enjoying himself. It made him happy seeing the three royal children getting to spend some time together for once. It was clear to anyone that even though they rarely interacted with each other, it put no strain on their relationship. 

Wels also noticed how quickly they adopted Grian into their dynamic. It made him think about how only six months ago he was an orphan on the streets, and how he was so skinny you could see his bones through his skin. It had taken him a couple weeks to fully open up, only really talking to False or Xisuma.

Grian seemed like a completely different person now, and Wels was proud of how far he’d come.

Right now, Wels was standing outside of a bakery, keeping an eye on the kids through the window to make sure nothing went wrong. So far, nothing was happening. However, he couldn’t help but take special notice of the next person to enter the shop. 

He had walked by quite a few times now, each time stopping and staring through the window as if contemplating something. When he finally did enter, Wels noticed the sheathed knife attached at the guy’s hip.

Wels was on high alert now, ready to burst through the door at any moment. His attention was briefly diverted however when a passing patrol approached him. At it’s head was Doc, one of the best and most highly respected Senior guards.

“Hey Wels!” he called as he approached. “What are you doing out? I thought you were done for the day.”

“Yeah, but the kids needed an escort, so here I am.”

“If you want, we can take over for you.” Doc suggested.

“No, no. It’s fine. Besides, don’t you have a patrol to finish?”

“We actually just finished.”

“Still. You should head back to camp. You’ve all earned your rest for today.”

“If you say so. Alright everyone, let’s go. See you back at camp, Wels.”

“See you.” Wels said as Doc and his patrol began to walk away. He took another glance through the window to make sure the kids were still safe.

They were very much not safe.

The guy who had entered with the knife had False in a choke hold and the knife to her neck. He held out a small bag and looked to be making demands. This was a robbery. Wels shot through the door, sword drawn and aimed at the attacker. It seemed Doc had noticed too, as he and his patrol had appeared not too soon after.

“You’re outnumbered five to one. Let her go.” Wels snarled at the attacker. This only made him tighten his grip on False.

“Aww. But where’s the fun in that?” he said back with a chuckle. His voice was sly and calm, and he had a small smirk on his face. “Besides. Who’s the one with a knife to the Princess’s neck? I suggest  _ you _ let  _ me _ go, and no one here has to get hurt.”

Wels looked at the robber, then at False(who was terrified beyond all belief), and suddenly got an idea. “Lower your weapons.” He commanded. Everyone in the room looked at Wels in bewilderment.

“Wels, are you crazy? We’re just going to let him get away with this?” Doc questioned.

“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.” Wels sheathed his sword, and the other guards followed suit.

“You.” The robber pointed at the person who was cowering behind the counter. “Money in the bag. Now.” he demanded. They quickly obliged. “Pleasure doing business with you.” the robber said, then threw False on the floor, but not before giving her a long, nasty cut on her lower leg. He ran out the door with a satisfied smile on his face.

False cried out in pain as she tumbled to the floor. She tried to stand back up, but was unable to. Blood was slowly spilling out of her leg. It only made Wels angrier.

“Doc, come with me. The rest of you stay here and watch the kids.” Wels ordered. He and Doc bolted out the door and after the attacker.

He hadn’t gotten that far. Just half way down the street. The two guards chased him down, and had caught up to him in very little time, for the robber was not all that fast a runner. They tackled him to the ground, and soon had his hands tied behind his back.

“Doc, take your patrol and escort him to the Capitol Jail.” Wels ordered.

“Yes, sir.” Doc responded. Then bent down to grab the prisoner. “Alright you dirty criminal. Let’s get you locked away where you belong.”

  
  


\--------

  
  


As she and Cub made their way back to the palace, Stress couldn’t help but be worried about False. Sure, the medic had said that she would be just fine, but that reassurance didn’t do all that much to help. The wound had been deep, and it stretched all the way from below her knee to the back of her ankle. Not to mention the sheer amount of blood that had come out of it. It looked like Cub had noticed the concern on Stress’s face, and so he spoke up.

“She’s going to be fine, Stress. Quit worrying so much.”

“It’s so hard not to, though. That wound was so bad. Plus, what are Mom and Dad going to say when they see False isn’t with us?”

“We’ll just explain to them what happened. It’s not like they can be too mad. It wasn’t her fault after all.”

“True. I guess we’ll just see what happens when we get there.”

  
  


\--------

  
  


“There you two are! We were worried sick!” their mother exclaimed as they entered the dining hall, quickly making her way to embrace Cub and Stress.

“We heard about what happened from one of the guards. Are you two okay?” Their father said, coming to stand beside their mother.

“Yeah,  _ we _ are. False, not so much. She got injured so badly she’s having to stay in the guard’s camp so the medic can watch over her.” Cub replied.

“Yes, we heard. It’s a shame what that criminal did to her.” Their mother said with a bit less concern than when she had been speaking earlier. “Anyways, let’s go eat. Get our minds off this whole incident.”

Stress found it somewhat odd that her mother had moved on from the subject so quickly at the mention of her sister. But she didn’t pay it too much mind as she was led to the table, and dinner was served.


	3. Important Lessons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To fight for their kingdom, one must know their kingdom.

False and Grian had been training for nearly three months now. False’s injury had healed nicely, but left a nasty scar. That’s not to say she didn’t think it looked cool. False had been scared about what her parents would say when they saw it, but they hadn’t mentioned it at all. 

In fact, when she came back to the palace after being released from the medic, her parents didn’t say much of anything to her. Just a small greeting, and then they went back to giving all their attention to Cub and Stress. It was definitely expected, but it still hurt that they showed very little concern for her.

It was fine though. False had better things to worry about. Like training. She was able to focus her frustrations into being the best guard she could possibly be. And it paid off.

According to Xisuma, she and Grian were coming along faster than a lot of other trainees he had in the past. It made False feel proud of herself.

  
  


\--------

  
  


Today, Xisuma wasn’t here for training. Instead, it was one of the Senior guards, lecturing Grian and False as they sat on the storage crates.

  
  


“I bet you two are wondering, ‘Where’s Xisuma? Why are you here?’ Well Xisuma has stuff to do, and he asked me to substitute for you two. But he doesn’t trust me with your battle training yet, so he told me to ‘find something else.’ So today, I will be teaching you something just as important to being a guard as your skill in battle.” Doc said to the kids as paced in front of them.

“And what is that exactly?” False asked. Doc stopped his pacing to address the question.

“Your kingdom.” they looked at Doc quizzically. “In order to protect your kingdom, you must know your kingdom. Inside and out. Every detail. And so,  _ that _ is what you will be learning today.”

Grian was a bit confused, but also kind of excited, as this was the first non-battle-related education he had ever gotten. Since he had spent his life on the streets, he was never able to attend an actual school. Doc pulled out one of the crates from the pile, sat down, and began the lesson.

“Let’s start with our kingdom’s history. The Hermit Kingdom was not always a world superpower.” he bagan. “Almost a thousand of years ago, we were a small colony of another kingdom, fighting for our independence. The war was so long ago however, most details about it are lost to time. Even the name of our parent kingdom, as they fell not too long after. Somehow, we remained.”

Grain was very engaged with what Doc was telling him. He had one question burning at the back of his mind. “You said that  _ most _ details about the war were lost. Are there any that weren’t?”

“I was just getting to that.” Doc responded. “Some historians found records of an ancient system in which the army operated, that they think could have laid the foundations of the modern day guard.”

“Wow.” the kids said in unison.

“I know. Anyways, after we won our independence, we very quickly expanded our territory to the size it is today. As we expanded, it was found that certain parts of the kingdom were better suited for different industries, and so the kingdom was divided into districts.”

“There are four of them, right?” False asked.

“Yes, False. The southwestern region had a warmer climate and more fertile soil, so naturally, it developed itself towards agriculture, and became known as the Agriculture District. In the north, is an expanse of tunnels and caves, filled with many ores and other resources, so it became the Mining District. In the middle of the kingdom, is the Industry District. If something can’t be farmed or mined, it’s made there. And lastly, in the southeast, there's the Capitol. That's where  _ we _ are. This is where the majority of our commerce happens, where the majority of the population lives, it’s the wealthiest of the districts, and of course where the royal family lives. Which is why guards are trained  _ here _ , since it’s where the most, and the best of us are stationed.”

“Wow. That was a lot.” Grian stated. He started to get off the crate, but Doc stopped him.

“Hold it. That’s not the end of the lesson. Sit back down.” Grian did as he was told. “Good. Now, where was I? Oh, right. I was going to tell you the ins and outs of the guard itself. First of all, if it were any other circumstance, the two of you would not be training right now. Normally, you wait until you’re eighteen, so consider yourselves to be  _ very _ lucky. Got that?”

False and Grian nodded, and so Doc continued.

“And you don’t just start training. You have to pass a trial day. Once again, the two of you are lucky. You get guaranteed spots. But you will still participate in the trial day when the time comes for you to do so.”

“You still haven’t told us what that is.” Grian mentioned.

“Yeah, yeah, have patience. I’m getting there.” he sighed and continued. “A trial day is one day out of the year where potential trainees come to show off their skills by facing off against each other, and if we like what we see, then they are given a spot as an official guard in training.”

“What happens when you earn a spot?” False questioned.

“You go through a training period of at least a year before you become a full guard. Some people only need one year, but most need at least two, sometimes more. If you are lucky enough to be one of the people who are given a spot, the Senior guards will be put in charge of your training, though I imagine Xisuma will continue with you two.”

“And, after training?”

“You earn your rank as a full guard. From there you  _ can _ earn a Senior rank, but it’s very hard, as it’s only given to the best of guards. But it isn’t enough to just be the best. You need to show it. Take me for example. I lost my arm and half my face in a factory bombing trying to save someone who was trapped inside. I had to have them replaced with mechanical parts. Once I had fully recovered, I was given my Senior rank.” 

Doc gestured to the rectangular golden pin with a horizontal red stripe through the middle of it attached to the top of his right sleeve. 

Grian was shocked at the story. He would have asked if the person Doc had tried to save survived, but based on what happened to him, Grian already knew what the answer was.

“One last thing. The guard is not under the direct order of the royal family. We work for the kingdom on our own accord. We give protection to the royals and the kingdom, and in return they give us food and shelter. We know what happens if we don’t provide, and so do they.”

“So, the guard is more like a public service organization?” Grian asked.

“Yeah, pretty much. Well, that’s all. Any questions?” The kids shook their heads. “Alright. I’m going now, I have patrol. Wels and Xisuma should be back soon, so until then, spar or something.” And then he was gone.

  
  


\--------

  
  


False ducked as Grian swung his sword at her. She rushed forward to get behind him, and swept his leg out from under him. However, Grian regained his balance, turned around, and came at False again, he struck out with his sword, but she blocked it with hers.

Xisuma had upgraded their wooden swords to iron ones, although they were somewhat dull to help prevent injury during training. That didn’t mean they couldn’t leave a mark however. False had to learn this the hard way when Grian swung his sword at just the right angle for False to avoid blocking it, and he left a diagonal cut right in the middle of her face.

The cut was by no means bad. It wasn’t very deep, thanks to the dullness of the sword, and though it was a bit long, stretching from the bottom of her forehead to her upper lip, it wasn’t bleeding that much, just a few small drips. It still hurt a lot though.

“OW!” False screamed in pain as she bent over and collapsed on the floor, pressing her hands over the wound.

“False! Oh no I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to actually hurt you. I thought the sword was dull enough that that wouldn’t happen.” Grian said as he crouched down beside False to try and comfort her.

False looked up at Grian, the bright red line on her face a stark contrast to her pale skin and bright blue eyes. Somewhere in his mind, he registered that the wound wasn’t that bad and that she was giving him a faint smile, but most of his brain was guilt-ridden and freaking out, and so it wouldn’t let him see that.

What he saw was the small tears welling up in the corners of False’s eyes, and the pained look in them. It only served to make him feel more guilty, and he looked away. He could feel False grabbing his forearm, and he flinched away, fearing the worst. But the touch was gentle, and so Grian let himself relax a little bit.

“Grian, it’s okay. I forgive you. I can just go to the medic and get it bandaged up, and it’ll be fine. It doesn’t even hurt that much anymore anyways.”

“You’re sure? You aren’t mad?” Grian said, wiping away the tears he hadn’t even realized were there.

“No, I’m not mad. Now come on. Let’s get to the medic’s office before Xisuma gets back. I don’t want him worrying  _ too _ much about this.”

“Worrying too much about what?” Grian heard Xisuma behind him.

“Oh- Uh. . . Hi, Xisuma. It’s nothing much, I swear. It was just a training accident. I- I didn’t mean to.” Grian stuttered out. He held his hands up defensively.

“Didn’t mean- Oh my gosh, False are you okay?!” Xisuma said once he noticed False’s wound. He quickly rushed over to her to examine it.

“Don’t worry Xisuma, I’m fine, really. It’s not as bad as it looks. I think it just needs to be cleaned and bandaged. Grian and I were just about to head off and do that actually.” False responded.

“Well get on that then. And come back here when you’re done. We have a surprise for you two.” Xisuma said. Then False and Grian left for the medic’s.

  
  


\--------

  
  


To the surprise of no one, the wound was nothing to be concerned about. All it needed was to be washed out and bandaged over, and to be cleaned everyday to keep infection out. False was much more concerned about what her parents would say when they saw it. Surely they would ask about it. And then she’d have to tell them the truth and all of this would be over. But that was a problem for future False to deal with.

The surprise Xisuma had mentioned was False and Grian getting to go on their first patrol, which the two were very excited about. On the way to the area they would be patrolling, Xisuma had explained that the way this worked was that they would split up into groups of two, so that way they could cover more ground faster.

Xisuma had taken Grian, and so that left False to go with Wels. Right now, they were walking along the streets between some apartment buildings in silence, False’s worries of her parents continuously plaguing her mind. Wels seemed to notice something was up.

“Hey, you good?” he asked.

“If I’m being honest, no, I’m not.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Wels offered. False appreciated it, but was still hesitant to respond. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, no. I want to, it’s just- It’s nothing really. I’m just worried about. . . This.” False pointed to the bandage covering the wound on her face.

“I thought the medic said it was nothing to be worried about.”

“They did. I guess I’m more worried about how my parents are going to react when they see it. I mean, there’s no way they wouldn’t notice it, right? Sure, they aren’t the  _ most _ attentive towards me, but there’s no way they couldn’t mention it.”

“Well, whatever happens, I’m here for you, okay?” Wels told her. False stopped in her tracks and hugged him.

“Thank you.”

“Of course.” Wels replied, returning the gesture. “Now, come on. Let’s finish up this patrol and get you back home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the exposition dump at the beginning. I just wanted to get that out of the way now. There is more to the lore, but that's just the basics. More will be told as the story progresses.
> 
> I hope you all have enjoyed these introductory chapters. The next one will jump a lot more into the actual plot. I have some big plans for what’s to come, and I can’t wait for you all to see it.


	4. It Was Bound To Happen At Some Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An heir, a spare, and a third one that’s just kinda there.

\-------- **6 years later** \--------

  
  


False’s parents had never said anything about that injury. Or any of the many that followed it. Either they somehow just hadn’t noticed, or they just didn’t care. Either way, False wasn’t going to be upset at being able to do this for a bit longer.

Right now, she was at the medic having another scar looked over.

“I swear, you and Grian are some of the most accident prone trainees I’ve ever seen.” she said as she finished bandaging the cut on her left shoulder.

“What can I say, we’re working hard out there. Got to be as prepared as we can be for tomorrow.”

“You know you get guaranteed spots, right?”

“Yeah, but  _ they _ don’t. Anyways, Thanks Satine!” False responded as she hopped off the table and returned to the training area.

  
  


\--------

  
  


Grian only hit air as False slid out of the way to avoid his attack. But he was just as quick to turn around and block her sword with his own. Their swords clashed a few times, before Grian ducked out of the way, got behind False, and very lightly touched the tip of the sword to her back, winning the match.

Grian released his hold on False. They made their way to their spot by the storage crates for a water break, when Xisuma stopped him.

“You were very good out there. I’m so proud of how far you’ve come in the last six years, and I can't wait to see what you do tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Xisuma. I'm excited for tomorrow too. I can’t wait to meet the people who I’m potentially going to be training with.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. Why don’t you and False take off for the rest of the day. You two need to save your strength for tomorrow, and plus, you’ve earned it.”

Grian smiled at him, nodded, and ran off to join False. They were a few minutes into their break, when the last thing Grian(and False) expected to happen, happened. Walking right up towards Xisuma, were False’s parents, the king and queen. False seemed to notice them too, and Grian quickly helped her get up and over the storage crates so she could hide. 

“Xisuma, there you are. We’ve been looking for you.” the queen said as she approached the general.

“Your majesties. What brings you down here?” Xisuma said with a polite nod.

“Oh, come on X. You know you can drop the formalities. I’ve said it a million times, just call me Aldren.”

“Of course. Anyways, you still have not answered my question. It’s not all that often you two come down to the camp directly, so it must be important.”

“Oh it’s nothing much. Kathrine and I just wanted to let you know that we will be attending the trial day tomorrow.”

“You will?” Xisuma asked.

“Yes. We want to see that little trainee of yours in action. You’ve spoken so much good of him, we just had to see it for ourselves. What did you say his name was again? Grain?” the queen said.

‘ _ Grain?! I am  _ not _ bread. _ ’ Grian thought to himself.

“It’s Grian, actually.” Xisuma corrected. Then he turned to face Grian, and the king and queen followed suit, turning to face him. Grian gave a small wave, and looked away. He continued drinking his water, hoping Xisuma wouldn’t call him over. Thankfully he didn’t. “Well, will that be all?”

“Yes, that's all.” the king answered. Then he gave a polite nod to Xisuma, and left with the queen.

False climbed out from behind the storage crates after being told that it was safe. Grian had told her what happened, but False had already heard everything

“I am so screwed.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. What’s the worst they could do?” Grian tried to reassure her.

“They could make me stop.”

“You’re technically an adult. Can they really  _ make _ you do anything?”

“It’s different when you’re royal. Your family always seems to have some kind of hold on you that you can never really escape. So, they actually can make me.”

“Oh. Well then I hope they don’t. I’ve enjoyed having you around, False.”

“Thanks. Me too.”   


\--------

  
  


“You’re going to do great, Falsie. I’ve seen how good you are. I mean, I don’t know all that much about guard stuff, but I can tell that you’re good. Besides, your spot is guaranteed anyways.” Stress told False as they made their way to the camp. 

Cub had already joined their parents in the viewing booth, and Stress was walking with False before she had to leave to do the same. The trial day took place in a sectioned off area of the guard camp, where a viewing booth was set up for the potential trainees to be monitored and selected.

“I know, I know. It’s just that mom and dad are going to be there, and there’s no way they won’t find out.”

“Well it had to happen eventually, right. At least now you’ll be able to get it over with.”

“That’s true I guess. Well, I guess we’re here now.”

“Yep. Good luck Falsie. Love you.” Stress said, waving as she ran to meet up with Cub and their parents.

False exited the palace, and made her way to the trial day yard. She paused by the door. False needed another minute. She was really about to do this. Defy any and all expectations her parents had of her. Do something that “A princess has more self respect than”. She was going to become a guard. Whether her parents approved or not. False had worked too long, too hard for this, and she was not going to let something so trivial as what they thought stop her now. She’d deal with them later. For now, that was a problem for future False to deal with. With that surge of confidence, she entered.

All around her, people were fighting. Some looked more experienced, some less. Some you could tell that they’ve been friends for ages, and others you could tell had more of a story to them than met the eye. Two of them were in a very heated argument that False swore could be heard from anywhere in the trial day yard. Despite everything telling her that approaching was a bad idea, she did so anyways.

One of them was female. She had bright orange hair that shone like fire in the mid-morning sunlight. Like False, she had scars littering her pale skin, some even still appearing to have stitchings in them. Her bright green eyes had a fire in them, and over all, she was quite intimidating.

The person she was with on the other hand, eh. . . not so much. Despite the muscle and height he had on him, the fact he was wearing sunglasses didn’t do much to make him look threatening. Plus, False just got those kinds of vibes from him. She still decided not to underestimate him though, as she had learned that looks can always be very deceiving.

As False got closer to the two, it was easier to make out what they were saying.

“You did  _ not _ win that match!” the female said.

“I tripped you, you fell, and I got you to stay down. That clearly means I won.” 

“My form was better!  _ You _ looked like you were just waving a sword around.”

“Better form doesn’t always mean you win, Cleo.” the male said matter-of-factly. The lady False assumed was Cleo was fuming.

“Sometimes I don’t understand why we’re friends.” Cleo said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Hey! Mind if I join in with you two?” False asked the two as she approached.

Cleo and her friend turned to face her upon hearing her voice. The look of shock on their faces could not be fully described with words. False realized why that was very quickly.

“You’re a. . .” Cleo started and trailed off.

“Princess? Yes. I am.” False finished

“And you’re. . .” The male continued

“Here at trial day? This is correct.”

“And you’re asking to go a round with us?” Cleo asked. False nodded. They looked at each other, and to False’s surprise burst into laughter. Once Cleo had calmed down, she spoke up again. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe it. The princess  _ actually _ wants to be a guard!”

“I don’t know if you know this, but everyone here has been training for this day for years.” the male told her as if she was stupid.

“I feel like I’m sufficiently prepared.” False told them. This sent them into another round of laughter.

“Here, tell you what, princess.” Cleo started. False was somewhat annoyed at the nickname. “My buddy Ren and I’ll do a one-v-one-v-one round with you. We’ll even go easy on you so you don’t get hurt. Sound fair?”

False was tempted to tell her that she had just as much experience in battle as her, but two things held her back. Number one, she didn’t think Cleo would even believe her, and two, she liked the idea of making Cleo and Ren think that she was helpless. And so False brought out the improv skills.

“Alright. Yeah, I guess that’s fair. Just promise not to go too hard on me. Please?” False agreed to the duel, making sure to sound as nervous as possible. Cleo had a smug smirk on her face as she shook False’s hand.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

The three made their way over to one of the sparring circles.

  
  


\--------

  
  


Grian and False had made a plan. They were going to stay as far away from each other today as possible. Since the king and queen were there to watch him, they had hoped that the distance would keep their eyes off of her for just a bit longer. So Grian reasoned that the reason he hadn’t seen false here yet was simply because of that. Not because they had already found out and forced her to stay away. It couldn’t have been that. 

He had been here since the event had started(which was at dawn, it had been two hours since), and was beyond thrilled at how the day had gone. He won a good majority of the matches he fought. Some people had just been angry and stormed off after losing, some chatted for a bit before going off to find someone else to spar with, and others had asked for a few rematches before heading off, which Grian happily accepted.

After every match, he glanced towards the booth where Xisuma was, only to see him looking back with as much pride(and something else Grian couldn’t quite place)as could possibly fit onto one’s face. Grian didn’t know exactly why, but it made him so unbelievably happy to see Xisuma looking at him like that.

Grian was sitting down, getting some water before getting back into it, when he noticed someone sitting not too far away. He didn’t look like he was really doing anything. Not taking a break, not looking for someone to spar with. Just. . . sitting. And he looked like he was kinda nervous.

He had sleek, raven black hair, and a just as sleek and dark-colored mustache to go with it. His clear amber eyes had a hint of fear that broke Grian’s heart to see. Grian came to the conclusion that he had to do something about it, and so he went and sat by the man.

“Hey! You didn’t look like you were doing anything, so I thought I’d come keep you company. Is that alright?” Grian said as he plonked himself down. The man seemed nervous, but responded nonetheless.

“Uh, sure.” he said.

“So, what are you doing here all by yourself anyways?”

“Oh, well, I just got here. I was looking for someone to go spar with.” Grian saw right through that.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure there's plenty of people on the ground.” Grian replied. But his voice was light and friendly, and there was no malice to it. He didn’t want to make this guy immediately hate him. Grian got a small laugh out of him.

“Alright fine. You caught me. I’m just. . nervous, okay? This is my first time coming to one of these. I mean, you just walk up to people? And ask them to fight you? How do you just  _ do _ that?”

“You want to fight me?” Grian asked.

“You’re serious?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not even that good. It would probably be too easy for you.” He looked away shyly.

“Oh, don’t say that. I’m sure you’re great. At the very least, you aren’t inexperienced. And if you’re as bad as you think you are, I’d be willing to help you out.”

“Why are you being so nice to me? You just met me. We’re competing for the same spot. I don’t even know your name.” he said. Grian could tell he was confused, but he also noticed the small smile forming on the man’s face.

“For starters, you haven’t given me a reason not to be nice to you. Second, My spot is guaranteed, so you don’t need to worry about that. Third, I’m Grian.”

“Mumbo. And what do you mean ‘guaranteed’?”

“Oh, I was rescued off the street by Xisuma when I was twelve. My mother had just died. He found me and took me in. I’ve been living and training here ever since.

“Wait, Xisuma? As in, the general?” Grian nodded. “Yeah, you’ll put me to shame. And I’ve been training since I was eight.”

“Then you’ll be a great match for me.” Grian said, and stood up. He extended his arm for Mumbo to take, and hoisted him off the ground. Mumbo gave him a slight smile, and then they were off.

  
  


\--------

  
  


Grian had no idea as to how Mumbo thought he wasn’t good. He said he had trained since he was eight, and it definitely showed. Mumbo had shown a level of skill that rivaled Grian’s own. Each of their matches was long and hard fought. Grian was impressed to say the least.

They had spent the whole day together. Grian couldn’t place it, but there was something about Mumbo that made him not want to walk away. Part of him could tell Mumbo didn’t want to either. Needless to say, they had become fast friends. Grian hoped Xisuma had an eye on Mumbo. He was skilled, and Grian liked having him around.

Of course people came to them throughout the day and challenged them. And of course they didn’t turn them down. But after each one, they always went right back to sparring each other.

They were taking a break right now. Just sitting and chatting. Grian’s attention was stolen for a moment when he saw a crowd forming around. . . something. Mumbo seemed to notice this.

“Grian, is everything alright? You look like you’re spacing out there.”

“Yeah. Just wondering what that crowd over there is.” Grian pointed to said crowd.

“Well then let's go find out.” Mumbo suggested. Then he got up, and pulled Grian along with him. They hurried over to the crowd and pushed their way to the front. Grian wasn’t too surprised, but what he saw was definitely unexpected.

“False?!”

  
  


\--------

  
  


False wasn’t scared. She knew even if she didn’t win, she would still make the point that she could in fact fight. Besides, her spot was guaranteed anyways. What Cleo and Ren said didn’t matter.

When she got into her starting position at the edge of the circle, False intentionally made it look off, then made a point to look at Cleo’s and correct it. Cleo’s face got even more smug, and it only served to make False all the more confident. 

“Alright, everyone ready?” Ren asked. The girls nodded. “Okay then. Three. . . two. . . one. . . go!”

False ran straight for Ren. She swung her sword down over his head, but he was quick to block it. He pushed her back, and she almost stumbled right into Cleo, who was coming fast in their direction. False regained her balance, and swiftly ducked out of the way. Cleo turned around and struck out with her sword. False did the same, and their swords clashed. For a while, they were pushing against each other, a fight to see who wanted this more.

Ren decided for them when he lunged forward and swung his sword into the others’, breaking them apart. As soon as he landed, he sprung back towards False. She dogged him with practiced ease. He went for her again, but this time sword met sword. Multiple times they clashed, and with each one, False pushed Ren further and further towards the edge of the circle. With one final push, he was out, and it was just False and Cleo.

By now, a crowd had formed, but False was too in the zone to pay it much attention. To say Cleo was shocked by what she saw would be way too much of an understatement. The smugness from earlier was completely gone, and had now moved to False’s face. Cleo’s face quickly turned into a scowl, and she and False went right back to the fight.

For a while, it was much of the same thing. The two, trading, blocking, and dodging hits from the other. The crowd was breathless, wondering who would be victorious. And at last, it was decided. Cleo came running towards False. False did a tuck-and-roll, then sprang up, and rammed into Cleo’s side, sending her straight out of the circle, and crashing right on top of Ren.

False walked over to where they were still dog piled on top of each other, and said, “I told you I was sufficiently prepared. Did I not?”

“Yeah, fine. That was pretty good I guess.” Cleo said as she got up and dusted herself off. Then she walked away, probably to go take a break. Ren ran after her, turning around and giving her a smile and thumbs-up as he went, then continuing on his way.

False looked up to the booth to see Wels and Xisuma looking down at her proudly, the former of which giving her a nod of approval. What she also saw was her parents. False could not put into words how angry they looked. But that was something False would have to deal with later. Right now, she was going to enjoy herself.

She turned around, only to find herself being hugged by a very ecstatic Grian.

“That was amazing, False! Great job.”

“Thanks.” she replied. Then she noticed the person Grian had with him. “Who’s this?”

“Oh. This is my new friend, Mumbo.” Grian answered. If possible, he looked even more excited.

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” Mumbo waved.

“Nice to meet you too. I’m False.” Mumbo nodded. Then he seemed to realize something.

“Wait. Aren’t you. . .”

“Yep.”

“And you’re. . . ”

“Uh huh.”

“And you just. . . ”

“This is correct.”

“Wow.”

“I know. She’s amazing.” Grian said. Not a minute later, he looked like he had come up with the best idea of his life. “You two should go a round with each other.”

“I don’t know about that.” Mumbo said sheepishly.

“You’ll be fine, Mumbo. False, you in?”

“Yeah, but I need a break first.”

  
  


\--------

  
  


False was beyond scared. What would they say? What would they do? False didn’t know, and that terrified her.

She was waiting outside her parents’ room. Cub and Stress were in there now. False didn’t know what for, but from what she had heard through the door, it didn’t sound good. False was just staring off into nothing when they came out. They rushed over to her and gave her a tight hug. They were even crying.

“We love you Falsie. Okay? We hope you know that.” Stress told her

“Of course I do.”

“Good luck in there.” Cub said. False nodded, and headed inside.

They were right there waiting for her when she walked through the door. The same look of anger as earlier on their faces. False had decided long before this moment that if nothing else, she would leave this conversation with her dignity. She wouldn’t let them break her. And so now, here she was, standing tall and firm against her parents, about to tell them the truth.

This wasn’t going to be pretty.

“What were you doing out there? What is wrong with you? How could you betray your family like that?” her father demanded.

“I’m not sorry.”

“Well you should be!” her mother cried. “What you did today was a complete  _ embarrassment _ to our family! Were you even thinking?!”

“I was. I had put a lot of thought into today. About whether or not I should even show up. About the way you would react when you saw me. I thought about  _ every little detail _ of today.”

“I don’t think you did.” Her father responded coldly.

“False. You are  _ royalty _ . You are a part of this family. You need to  _ act like it _ .” her mother was glaring at her, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

“No I’m not.” False said.

“What?” her father sounded appalled at the statement.

“I said I’m not a part of this family. At least, you never treat me like it. It feels like only Stress and Cub exist to you sometimes. I mean, my entire life I’ve tried to get you to notice me. See that I exist. Pay me  _ any _ amount of attention. . . To care about me.” she said that last one much quieter. “Not to mention, You didn’t even notice me going down to train in the guard camp for the last  _ six years _ . Did you notice that I would come to dinner covered in  _ scars _ ? Or did you just not care? Or did you even notice me coming to dinner in the first place?” False was yelling now. She could feel the tears pricking at her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “And another thing! You had me sleeping on the opposite side of the palace from you, Cub and Stress. Every time you saw us together, you would pull them away saying they ‘had a lesson’. Was that even true? Or were you just trying to separate us? Even if it was, I think the latter of those two holds true as well. So, no. I am not a part of this family. And I clearly never was. So what am I to you?!”

After a few moments of tense silence, her mother spoke up.

“You were an accident.” she said plainly.

“W- What?” False couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Your mother and I. . . never planned on having a third child. You just happened, and we had to deal with it.”

“We had Cub as an heir to the throne, and Stress in case the worst came to pass. We didn’t think we’d need anymore than that.” her mother explained. “They did have lessons, yes. To help prepare them to take the throne. And we couldn’t risk you being a distraction to them. Clearly, that didn’t work.”

False didn’t know how to feel about any of this. Angry, sad, relieved she finally had some answers? She decided on the first one.

“And so that meant you couldn’t care about me? What kind of logic is that? I wasn’t planned, so I don’t deserve to be loved by my parents?” they remained silent, and just looked away. False’s heart broke. “I can’t believe it. I’ve spent my whole life trying to get you to care, when the whole time you never did, and never would. I’ve spent so long worrying about what you thought of me! I could have just left, and you wouldn’t have done anything about it, would you? Well I’m done worrying about you. If you don’t want me to be a part of this family, then I won’t be!” False turned to leave, but she was stopped.

“We’re ahead of you on that.” her father said. “For what you have done today, you are to leave the palace, and not come back. Unless you want to come to your senses and quit this guard nonsense?” False didn’t even reply. She just booked it out of that room. Finally, as she burst through the doors, the tears fell.

She registered Stress and Cub calling after her in the back of her mind, but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t. False just kept running, to the only place she knew was safe for her. The place that had become her second home. Scratch that. Just, home. The guard camp.

False rushed over to the officers’ quarters, hoping to find Xisuma. Before she got there however, she crashed into someone. Half blinded by tears, she looked up to see Wels, who could immediately tell something was wrong. False had noticed over the years that he had that ability. Without a word, Wels enveloped False in a tight and loving hug which False gladly returned. They just stood there in silence, False letting the tears stream down her face. After a few minutes, Wels spoke up.

“You want to talk about it?” False wasted no time answering.

“They disowned me.” Wels needed no clarification as to who “They” was.

“Well then they made the biggest mistake of their life. Come on. I’ll take you to the trainee barracks.” Wels let go of the hug, but kept an arm comfortingly around her shoulder as he guided her to what False guessed would be her room from now on(or at least until she earned her full rank). They got there, and Wels made sure False was comfortably tucked in one of the beds. He turned to leave, but False asked him to wait a moment. 

“Will Xisuma be okay with this?” she asked

“Xisuma will be thrilled to have you here, False. I am too. And I can’t imagine Grian being too upset about it either. Point is, you are a guard. You’re running with us now, and that means we’re all looking out for you. I already know that life is going to be so much better for you here.” False didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded in response. “Alrighty then. I’ll let you sleep now. Good night, False. See you in the morning.”

False had no problem falling asleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter so far, and I am so happy with how it turned out. Especially since I wrote it in only three days, which was much faster than the others.


	5. Getting Used To Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> False has some settling in to do, and some new things to get used to.

False woke up, confused as to where she was. Why did everything feel so  _ different _ ? And most importantly, why was Grian staring down at her, looking just as confused as she was? Then everything from last night came crashing back to her.

Oh. Right.

She sat up in the bed, and hugged her legs to her chest. Grian moved to sit beside her.

“False, what are you doing here?” Grian asked. Immediately after, he seemed to realize the answer to that question. “Things didn’t go well last night, did they?” False just buried her face in her arms and shook her head as the tears started to fall again. “I’m so sorry, False. You don’t deserve that.”

False appreciated that Grian already seemed to know exactly what had happened, and wasn't pushing for her to talk about it. He embraced her in a hug, and False leaned into it. Grian was a good friend. False was glad to have him. They stayed like that, until two very loud soon-to-be-promoted trainees came crashing through the door.

“Hey Grian, you coming or what?! We’ve been waiting for-” Grian cut him off with a stern “not right now” look, and moved his head to indicate the current situation. He seemed to get the message. “Hey, False.”

“Hi Jevin. Hi Hypno.”

“We’ll be outside when you’re done.” Hypno said. The two were soon out of the room.

“Sorry about them.” Grian apologized.

“No, no. It’s fine.” False reassured him. The whole thing was kind of funny to her anyways. “What are they waiting on you for?”

“We were just going out to get some food.” He paused. “Would you like to come with us? I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“Sure. Why not? It would probably do me some good to get outside anyways. Help get my mind off of. . . everything.”

“Alright. I’ll go tell the guys and give you some time to get ready.” Grian said, and then he was gone, and False was alone in the room. She sighed, pushed herself off the bed, and got dressed.

  
  


\--------

  
  


False hadn’t known how to feel. Excited? Nervous? Confused? She had never really eaten out before. For her, it was always formal meals in the palace. She never spoke up at these meals. Mainly because the king and queen either ignored her completely, or moved on very quickly from whatever the topic was to keep her quiet. She learned very quickly that talking at meals wasn’t something she was supposed to do.

So when the waiter asked what she was going to order, False had been a complete mess. She had eventually managed to stutter out her order. It took multiple tries and clarification from Grian, but she said it nonetheless.

Grian seemed to know something was up. That False’s silence throughout breakfast was more than just her being upset from yesterday. She noticed him trying to steer the conversation more towards her. Hypno and Jevin looked like they had picked up on it, and tried to do the same. But it was just making False even more uncomfortable.

She didn’t know  _ why _ this was happening. False had always felt comfortable around them. But right now, it was hard for her to make simple conversation. Then Grian asked it.

“False, are you okay?”

All that led up to now. False was cowering outside, trying to calm herself down. It wasn’t working very well, but she was still trying.

  
  


\--------

  
  


Grian didn’t know what he had done. He just wanted to make his friend feel included. But now she was hiding from him outside. She had been for the last ten minutes.

“Should one of us go check on her?” Jevin asked

“Yeah. She’s been out there a while. Grian, you’re closest with her. You do it.” Hypno said, And pushed Grian out of the booth.

Grian made his way out of the building and over to where False was sitting by the wall.

“Hey False. You good?”

“What do you think?”

“I know. I crossed a line somewhere, and I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable. I just wanted you to feel included. I thought I was helping, but clearly, I wasn’t.”

“I forgive you.” They sat there for a few minutes in silence before False spoke again. “When I lived in the palace, I was always discouraged from speaking at meals. Or really any family gathering now that I think about it. Eventually I just learned that it wasn’t something I was supposed to do. I didn’t know what to do in there. The whole situation was just, so different from what I’m used to.”

“Well then I want to try to help you get used to it.”

“What?”

“False, the way your parents treated you was not normal. It was cruel. But we aren’t going to do that to you. No one is. We’re your friends, False, and we care about you. We want you to be part of the conversation. Of everything.”

“Thank you. I think I’m ready to go back in now.”

  
  


\--------

  
  


The rest of breakfast went much better than before. Without spilling too much, Grian explained the situation, and False was eased a bit more gently into the conversation. She also kept reminding herself that she was allowed to join in, and that helped a lot as well.

The others had informed False that they had been given the rest of the week off to relax and prepare for the ceremony, in which they would all earn their promotions. And so they spent the rest of the day out just having fun with each other.

They were back in the barracks now, the guys had given False a proper tour of the place, since she had never spent too much(or really any) time there.

“You’re going to be living here,” Hypno had said after False insisted on just figuring it out for herself. “You should know where everything is. And as the ones with experience, we’re going to show you.”

They were just hanging out in there, not doing much of anything, when Xisuma came in, saying False had some visitors.

“Who is it?” False asked. Xisuma stepped out of the way to reveal Cub and Stress standing outside the door.

“Hey Falsie.” Stress greeted her.

“How are you?” Cub asked. False rushed over to them and embraced them in a tight hug. They left the room for some privacy.

“What are you two doing here? I thought you would have been banned from ever seeing me again.”

“Mom and Dad tried to,” Cub started. “But I think they know we won’t listen anyways, so they just aren’t going to do anything.”

“As to why we came, we managed to scrounge a few things from your old room.” Stress told her, and handed her a bag. Inside were a few sets of clothing and some old photos. “It was all we could manage to get before Mom told us to get out.”

“Thank you guys. I really appreciate this.”

“Of course Falsie.”

“We also came to tell you that even though they never cared for you, that doesn’t mean we didn’t. We want you to know that we’re still on your side, no matter what. Mom and Dad told us that you left the family, but we hope that doesn’t extend to us.” Cub said.

“Of course it doesn’t. You will always be my brother and sister.” False hugged them again, and they returned it.

It was going to take False a while to recover from the damage the king and queen put on her. But she felt like, with enough time, she could get used to this.


	6. New Arrivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The future trainees arrive at camp.

**Days Till Ceremony: 5**

\-------------------------------

  
  


\-------- **A few days prior** \--------

  
  


_ The sun had set, marking the end of the trial day. Mumbo and the others who came had been standing around for the past thirty minutes, waiting for results. Grian and False had left. Mumbo just assumed that it was because their spots were guaranteed, and so they didn’t need to be here. _

_ He had no idea how any of this was going to work. Would there be a list posted? Would they call out names? No, that didn’t make sense. They were up in the booth all day, there was no way for them to know names. Mumbo’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps coming up behind him. He turned around, to be faced with General Xisuma himself, along with the second in command, whose name Mumbo couldn’t remember. _

_ “Would you come with us? We’d like to speak with you.” Xisuma said. _

_ Mumbo was too nervous to speak, so he just nodded. Xisuma motioned for Mumbo to follow, and he was led to what he assumed was his office. Although it definitely looked more like a bedroom. They sat down in some chairs in the middle of the room, and Xisuma began speaking. _

_ “Before we begin, we never got the chance to learn any names today, so if you could tell us yours, that would be very appreciated.” He told Mumbo. _

_ “Uh- it- its Mumbo. Mumbo Jumbo.” At that, Xisuma seemed to realize something. _

_ “Well, it’s very nice to meet you Mumbo. And there’s no need to be nervous. We’re just having a simple chat.” Xisuma said. Mumbo nodded and relaxed a little bit. “Wels, would you like to tell him the news?” _

_ “I’d be glad to. Mumbo, we were very impressed with what we saw from you today. We’d like to have you here for training.” _

_ “You would?” Mumbo asked. He was in disbelief, but also really excited. _

_ “Yes. You have a level of skill far above most of the people I’ve trained. Plus, from the way Grian spoke of you, you seem like a good person to keep around.” Xisuma explained. That last part made Mumbo smile a little bit. _

_ “So, what do you say?” Wels asked. _

_ Mumbo didn’t know what to say. He was in shock. This was the last thing he expected to happen. After a few short moments that felt like forever, he managed to get out his answer. _

_ “I accept. When do I start?” _

  
  


\-------- **Present Day** \--------

  
  


Mumbo was walking through the guard camp, looking for Xisuma, who said he’d meet him here. Mumbo didn’t know where exactly, just that he would. He had been given a couple days to pack, and say goodbye to his family, since he would be living here from now on.

But right now, he was lost and had no idea where to go. As he turned a corner, he saw some people sitting by some crates, and decided to ask them for help. With his plan in mind, he tried to approach them. But before he could, he was stopped by a very familiar and cheerful voice.

“Mumbo!” It was Grian. He sounded very happy to see Mumbo. Mumbo turned around to be met by his friend giving him a very tight hug.

“Hi, Grian.” Mumbo greeted.

“I’m guessing you got accepted?” Grian asked, letting go of the hug.

“I did. I’m looking for Xisuma, he said he’d meet me here somewhere. He didn’t say where or what about though, just that he would.”

“Well, I don’t know where he is, but until we find him, I can show you around the place.”

“That sounds great. I’d like that.” Mumbo said with a smile.

“Great! But first. . . Hey Guys!” Grian yelled with much enthusiasm and dragged Mumbo by the wrist over to the group of people by the crates. They all turned to face the pair as they approached, and Mumbo was able to recognise one of them as False. “Hey guys. I have someone here I’d like you to meet. This is Mumbo. He’s going to be one of the new trainees. Mumbo, you’ve already met False.” False gave Mumbo a small wave, and he did the same. “ _ This  _ is Jevin and Hypno.” Grian said, and gestured to each one.

“Hey man, welcome to the guard. Nice to meet you.” Jevin said.

“You too.” Mumbo replied.

“They’re going to be getting their promotions soon.” Grian told him.

“Oh, uh, congratulations then.”

“Thanks!” Hypno replied.

“Anyways, I’m going to go show Mumbo around. See you.” Grian told the others, and then once again grabbed Mumbo by the wrist and dragged him away.

Not that he minded.

  
  


\--------

  
  


Grian had taken Mumbo off somewhere, and now False was left with Hypno and Jevin again. They had returned back to their conversation, only to be interrupted again by someone False was not very fond of. She turned around to see Cleo and Ren coming towards them.

“Hey. Have any of you lot seen- oh, it’s you.” Cleo said.

“Surprised to see me here?” False asked flatly.

“Not really. Although, I think we both know why.” Cleo retorted, looking smug as ever.

“Hey! False is a great guard, and she earned this.” Jevin yelled at her. False appreciated the support, until she heard the next thing that came out of his mouth. “Besides, she’s had this spot locked up from day one.” False knew what Jevin was trying to say, but she also knew the way Cleo would take it.

“Oh. Of  _ course _ she has.” Cleo said condescendingly. Both her and False knew what she was implying with that comment.

With a sigh of irritation, False responded, “Anyways, what do you want?” This time, Ren spoke.

“We were just looking for Xisuma. He said he’d help us get settled in. We wanted to know if any of you knew where he was.”

“Probably in the officers’ quarters.” False answered.

“Oh wow, so helpful,” Cleo said sarcastically. “We don’t know where that is.”

“Well good luck finding it.” False replied coldly to her. She was about to turn around and let them be on their way, but when she saw the pleading look Ren was giving her, False reluctantly conceded to showing them. “Fine. Come on.” False said with an annoyed huff and led them towards the officers’ quarters.

As they made their way over there, Ren came up to walk beside False, while Cleo trailed further behind.

“I'm  _ really _ sorry about Cleo. She can be a bit harsh.” he whispered.

“You think?” False barked back at him. However, she immediately regretted it seeing the hurt look on his face. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped. It’s just. . she’s just really frustrating. Why does she have to act like this? All high and mighty and like she’s better than everyone else.”

“I know. But Cleo’s not all bad, once you get to know her at least.”

“Well she doesn’t really seem too keen on letting me do that. In fact, I think she already hates me.”

“Well, you did kind of beat her up.” Ren stated matter-of-factly

“In a fair fight that she  _ agreed _ to.” False argued.

“True. But Cleo’s not really one for losing.”

“Yeah, I got that. But that doesn’t give her the right to treat me the way she does. Like I don’t deserve to be here because I’m- Because of the way I was born.”

“I know. And, I shouldn’t have either. I made assumptions based off of one fact, and I was wrong. You proved me wrong, False, and I’m sorry for what I said.” Ren told her.

“Thank you. You’re forgiven I guess.” False replied. Ren nodded. “That doesn't mean Cleo is though.”

“I’m not saying she has to be. All I’m asking is for you to try and be nicer to her. You don’t have to be best friends or anything, but can you at least try to not be at her throat all the time? And I’ll ask the same of her.” Ren asked, that same pleading look from earlier on his face.

“Ugh. Fine. I’ll try.” False agreed.

“Great. And until then, I’ll be friendly enough for both of us.” Ren replied. False couldn’t help but give a small smile to him.

“Well, we’re here now.”

“Okay, so, where is he?” Cleo asked.

“Probably in his room. Just wait here, I'll go get him.” False answered. She walked over to his door and knocked. No response. She called his name. Still nothing. She opened the door. He wasn’t in there. False went back over to Ren and Cleo to tell them. “He isn’t there.”

“Great. So we came all the way over here for nothing?” Cleo questioned, sounding a bit annoyed.

“Well how was I supposed to know-” False began to yell at her, but stopped and composed herself. “Look, we’ll just wait here for him to come back. I’m sure it won’t be too long.”

They didn’t have to wait too long. Although it wasn’t Xisuma who found them. It was Wels.

“False? What are you doing here?” He questioned.

“I’m sure you remember Ren and Cleo?”

“Yes, I do. Hello you two. Glad to see you made it here safely.”

“Well, I was helping them find Xisuma. They said he was going to get them settled in. He wasn’t here, so we were waiting for him.”

“Well, he’s out looking to see if another one of the trainees has arrived yet.”

“Mumbo?” False asked. Wels nodded. “Yeah, he’s here. Grian is showing him around.” she told him.

“Well that’s good then. Anyways, False, would you like me to take over from here?” Wels offered. False glanced at Ren, then Cleo, then back at Wels, and nodded eagerly. She said her goodbyes, and headed back towards the storage crates.

  
  


\--------

  
  


Grian had taken Mumbo all over camp. The barracks, the training area, the commons, and now they were back in the storage room. Well, it was more of a space set into the wall rather than an actual room, but whatever. Jevin, Hypno, and False had left, so it was just Mumbo and Grian. 

“So, now that you’ve seen everything, what do you want to do now?” Grian asked as he plonked down on one of the crates and laid back.

“I’m not really sure. I guess we could just hang out here.” Mumbo suggested, laying down next to Grian.

“I’m down for that.” Grian replied. They laid there for a few moments in silence, trying to think of what to say. Finally Mumbo thought of something.

“So, what was it like growing up with the guard?” he asked.

“Um, it was definitely interesting.” Grian responded. ”Even though it was the same routine of waking up at dawn and then training or going on patrol or both, each day, no two days ever really felt the same.” he continued, sounding very thoughtful. “And it was nice having the whole guard as a family. When I first came here, they were all so quick to welcome me and offer to help with my training, but Xisuma said that he had it covered just fine.” Mumbo saw that a smile was starting to form on Grian’s face as he recounted his experiences.

“Wow. I couldn’t imagine being raised by the general of the guard. Sounds kind of cool to be honest.” Mumbo commented.

“Well,  _ all _ of the guard raised me, but, yeah. I guess you could say Xisuma played a bigger part in it than most.” Grian explained. “It also really helped having False doing it all with me. It was almost like having a sibling, you know? And when I met Cub and Stress for the first time, they were so quick to adopt me into their dynamic. It felt really good after having so little family for so long.”

“That sounds really nice.” 

“It is. So, what was growing up for you like?” Grian asked, and turned to face Mumbo. The look of eagerness on his face made Mumbo’s brain stutter for the smallest fraction of a second before he composed a coherent enough thought to respond.

“Well it wasn’t anything like what you had, that’s for sure. I never had much family. It was just me and my parents in the Industry District.” Mumbo told him with a hint of sadness. “I’m not saying it was bad or anything, just kind of lonely. Plus, I had the pressure of being an only child.”

“How so?” Grian asked.

“Both of my parents are engineers for a really big company in the district. And they had wanted me to be one too. They never forced it on me though, which is something I really appreciate from them. In fact, when I expressed interest in the guard, they did everything they could to set me up for that. And I was eight.” Mumbo said with a small laugh. “They still had me take some engineering classes. It was fine though. The subject interested me enough, and it’s always good to have a back up plan. But, ” Mumbo paused. “This was always what I wanted to do. Serve my kingdom as a guard.” 

Mumbo had a full beaming smile on his face as he finished. He turned on his side to see Grian staring at him with an awestruck look on his face. Mumbo didn’t get why though. He didn’t think his home life was  _ that _ interesting. At least, he didn’t understand until Grian spoke.

“Wow. and you thought what I had was nice. Your family sounds amazing. I would have loved having something like that growing up.”

“Well, if you did, you wouldn’t be here now, would you?”

“True. I do really love this. In fact, now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t think I would have traded this for anything. I still miss my mother, but I think she’d be happy that this is where I ended up.” Grian said, looking very content.

“I bet she’d be really proud of you.” Mumbo told him. Grian hummed and nodded in agreement. They laid there in silence, looking at each other, trying to think of what else to say, when Xisuma walked into the storage room.

“Grian, are you in here?” he called. Grian leapt off of the crate he was laying on and onto his feet as the general approached.

“Yeah. I’m here. What do you need?” Grian asked.

“I wanted to know if you’ve seen-” Xisuma seemed to notice Mumbo sitting up from his position on the crate. “Mumbo! There you are. I’ve been looking all over this camp for you.” Xisuma said, although he didn’t sound mad in the slightest.

“I’m sorry, Xisuma. We  _ were _ trying to find you, but we got a bit distracted.”

“You’re perfectly fine, Grian.” Xisuma said. At this point, Mumbo was standing with the two. “I was actually looking for him to help get him settled in, but it seems you’ve already got that covered. Well, I’ll leave you two to it then.”

“Okay. Bye Xisuma.” Grian said as Xisuma left the room. When he was gone, Grian grabbed Mumbo’s hand and took him back over to the crates they were laying on before, and pulled him down to lay next to him. This time, they were close enough that their shoulders were touching. The whole thing only took a few seconds, but it was enough for it to do things to Mumbo that he didn’t necessarily want to think about. So he didn’t.

For now at least.

  
  


\--------

  
  


It was late at night now. Wels was sitting with Xisuma by a fire pit. The trainees were sitting a bit further off. They all looked to be getting along, which made Wels happy to see. Although he couldn’t help but notice that False and Cleo appeared to be giving each other occasional glares that looked less than friendly. But he shrugged it off for now, for it wasn’t all that rare for some trainees to not get along right away. If it got worse, he’d do something.

For now though, he was content to just sit by the fire and watch as they all interacted with one another. It was a nice thing to see. Grian and Mumbo were huddling together, presumably for warmth. False was sitting next to them, with Ren in between her and Cleo, trying to diffuse whatever conflicts arose between the two. However, all of them looked to be chatting nicely among each other, which made Wels smile.

He looked up to Xisuma, who also appeared to be watching the group, the same expression of contentment on his face.

“It’s really nice to see isn’t it? All of them getting along so quickly.” Wels said.

“It is. Although, we might have to do something about False and Cleo.” Xisuma responded.

“I think we can leave it alone for now. Remember you and Doc?” Wels said with a small laugh.

“Oh yeah. We hated each other. That was so long ago.”

“Exactly. You guys sorted out your problems on your own. I think they can too.”

“Me too.” Xisuma said, and yawned, leaning into Wels’s side.

“You tired?” Wels asked him.

“Yeah. It’s been a long day.”

“It has.” Wels responded, and laid his head on Xisuma’s shoulder, Xisuma placing his head on Wels’s own.

It really had been a long day for both of them. They had been running around all day trying to make sure the trainees got settled in alright, not to mention all the other work they had to do. They were both more than happy to be sitting peacefully by the fire right now. They sat there for a bit longer, not saying anything, just letting the crackling of the fire fill the silence.

“I think we have a good group this year.” Xisuma said after a while.

“We do.” Wels responded. “We really do.”

Wels knew Xisuma said that every year. But this time he could tell that Xisuma really meant it. And Wels meant it too. He was excited for what was to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a hard chapter for me to write. The first few parts I suffered from writer’s block, and I feel like it could have been better. But it took me too long to write, and I don’t feel like changing it. This chapter was also really dialogue heavy, and I hadn’t planned out what I wanted the dialogue to be until I got to those parts, so that was a struggle as well. But overall, I think I did a good job.
> 
> I also included a lot of foreshadowing for future events. Some bits are more obvious, some less.
> 
> Also, sorry this came out so late. I was on vacation, and I didn't feel like working on it.


	7. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the promotions ceremony fast approaching, there are some things that need to get done.

**Days Till Ceremony: 3**

\-------------------------------

  
  


Mumbo groggily sat up in his bed, his still aching shoulder screaming at him as he pushed himself up. Mumbo didn’t know why he was in the barracks. He remembered falling asleep in the medic’s office. He thought back to last night, trying to recall if he had in fact ended up sleeping here.

False and Grian had taken Mumbo, Cleo, and Ren on a small tour of the area, since none of them were from there. Ren and Cleo being from the Agriculture District, and Mumbo being from the Industry District.

The five were on their way back to camp, when they noticed something happening across the street. Two groups of people looked like they were about to get in a fight. One group getting more and more aggressive, the other appearing to try and get away. The first group had the second surrounded, and then one of them threw a punch.

The five trainees hurried across the street to quell the fighting, and although they didn’t have any weapons on them, they were still able to make quick work of the aggressors. They still put up quite the fight though, with one of them hitting Mumbo in the shoulder so hard it dislocated. Nevertheless, they ended up retreating, and the group of people who they attacked were very grateful.

Grian had allowed Mumbo to lean on him the rest of the way back to camp, and upon their return, promptly brought Mumbo to Satine’s office. She popped his shoulder back into place, gave him some pain killers, and the last thing Mumbo remembered was falling asleep there.

So that begged the question, how had he ended up back in the barracks? He assumed he had been moved, and didn’t think too much of it. It looked like everyone else had gotten up and started their days, as Mumbo was the only one in the room. But then he wasn’t, for Grian entered not too long after Mumbo had woken up.

“Hey, Mumbo.” he greeted. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. It still hurts a lot though.” Mumbo replied, rubbing his shoulder to try and soothe the ache. It didn’t work. In fact, it only made it hurt more, causing Mumbo to wince in pain. 

“Hey, don’t do that. You’ll make it worse.” Grian said as he pulled Mumbo’s hand back down, his voice laced with concern. 

“Alright. Anyways, how are you feeling? I remember they got a few hits on you as well.”

“I’m fine. Nothing that couldn’t be slept off.” Grian reassured.

“That’s good. I think I might need another pain killer though.” Mumbo said

“Well let’s go get you that, then, shall we?”

Mumbo nodded, and Grian pulled him up by his good arm. They began the trek over to the medic’s office, Mumbo leaning his arm on Grian for support. Silence filled the air as they walked, until Mumbo remembered something.

“Hey, um. .” Mumbo started.

“Yeah?”

“I’m not sure if I ever thanked you yesterday. For jumping in after that guy dislocated my shoulder. And practically carrying me back to camp.” Mumbo told him. Grian looked up at him with a reassuring smile.

“Don't mention it. I wasn't just going to let him keep hurting you. Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I let you walk back on your own?”

"You got me there.” Mumbo said with a chuckle. "Still, I just felt like I should have said something."

"Well I appreciate it." Grian told him. "Oh, look. We're here." The two entered the medic's office, Mumbo still slumped over Grian. At the back of his mind, Mumbo noted that Grian must have been very strong to hold his weight like this."Satine?! Are you in here?" Grian called. Not a moment later, said medic appeared from around the corner.

"Yes, I am. What do you- Oh. Here for a pain reliever I assume?" She said when she noticed Mumbo.

"Yes." Mumbo replied.

"Alright. Wait here, I'll go get it." She said, and left the two alone. A few moments later, she returned with the medicine and something else. A sling. She handed the medicine to Mumbo, and he immediately proceeded to down the liquid. The sling was handed to Grian, who looked very confused as to why he was holding it. Satine was very quick to clarify. "You're going to help him put it on. I want to check over the rest of his injuries." The rest of Mumbo's injuries were only a few scrapes on his face. 

The whole situation was very awkward, with Satine and Grian both trying to maneuver around Mumbo at the same time, but the work was soon done, and after Satine gave Grian a quick once-over, the two men were free to go.

"So how's it feel now?" Grian asked.

"So much better. It's amazing how fast that stuff Satine gave me works. And the sling isn't hurting too much either."

"That's good. I didn't make it too tight or anything did I?"

"Actually, it's a bit loose if anything." Mumbo replied. At that, Grian stopped where he was, holding Mumbo back with him. He then proceeded to tighten the sling a little bit. Mumbo didn’t know why, but something about the sudden contact sent a burst of warmth through him.

"There. How's that?"

"That's, um, better. Thank you." If Grian noticed the small stutter in Mumbo's answer, he didn't say anything about it.

The rest of the walk back to the barracks was silent. It was a somewhat comfortable silence though, neither one really feeling the need to say anything. When he finally reached the room and entered, Mumbo's attention was drawn to something on his bed. There, neatly folded on the mattress, was his guard uniform. It seemed like Grian had noticed it too.

"Already? Didn’t we just have uniform fittings yesterday?" he asked from across the room.

“I guess they’re just really fast when it comes to getting them out.” Mumbo replied. He turned around to see that Grian had his uniform laid out on his bed.

There wasn’t all that much to them. The base layer consisted of a white long-sleeve shirt, with yellow stripe accents going down the sides of the sleeves. Over that went a black vest, though it really had more of a chestplate feel to it. Along with it came dark grey pants and black boots. Xisuma had mentioned something about them getting actual protective gear if they were to ever go into a serious battle.

They also had a training uniform that was just a black t-shirt and pants. Both were made of looser material to allow for easier movements during training. Grian and False both already had these for obvious reasons.

“We should try them on.” Grian suggested enthusiastically.

“Why? We already know that they fit.” Mumbo said back.

“Yeah, but we only tried them on in parts yesterday. Don’t you want to see what the whole thing looks like?”

“I do, but, ” Mumbo gestured to his injured arm “I feel like I should wait a while.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what it looks like on you at the ceremony.” Grian said, sounding a bit disappointed. “But  _ I _ can’t wait that long.” he said, then scurried into the bathroom to change.

Mumbo waited patiently on the bed while his friend changed. When he came out, the first thing that came to Mumbo’s mind was that Grian looked  _ really _ good in that uniform.

“Wow.” was all Mumbo managed to get out.

“I know, right. Isn’t it cool?” Grian said eagerly. “How do I look?”

“Cool. Seriously, seriously cool.” Mumbo responded. Grian came over and plopped himself down next to Mumbo, then laid back on the bed. 

“Thanks.” he responded. Mumbo noticed that Grian looked a bit spaced out, like he had something on his mind. So Mumbo decided to ask about it. 

“Hey, you good? You look like you’re thinking hard about something.” Mumbo said.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just. . . we’re going to become official trainees in  _ three days _ . I just can’t believe this is really happening.”

“I know how you feel. Sometimes, it doesn’t even feel like all that long ago I was just an eight year old fumbling around with a stick having play-fights with my parents.” Mumbo said with a small laugh at the end.

“You know what I just realized?” Grian asked.

“What”

“Jevin and Hypno are the last people to have moved out of this room without me. I’m actually going to get to move out of these barracks  _ with _ my roommates this time.” he said, a smile growing on his face as he finished.

Not only had Jevin and Hypno moved out of the room, but they were preparing to move camps. Something Xisuma had said about guards being needed at the western border camps. They would still be attending the ceremony of course, but they would be leaving very soon after.

The two of them talked a bit more, before both falling asleep.

  
  


\--------

  
  


False was about halfway through a list of chores she had been given earlier, and she felt proud of herself. Granted, there were only three things on the list, but still she felt like she had already gotten a lot done today. False wasn’t the only one with one of these chore lists, lots of other people had gotten them, as there were a lot of things that needed doing before the promotions ceremony.

False only had this current one, and then one more to complete before she was done. The one she had already completed was to help sort and drop off uniforms. The one she was currently working on, which was to help set up the area where the ceremony would happen(setting up chairs, tables, decorations, etc.), was definitely taking a lot longer, which was why so many other guards were tasked with it. 

This ceremony was a  _ very _ big deal for the whole kingdom, as around a thousand people came to see it each year. So this part of the preparations required all hands on deck to make the place look as good as possible. It took place in the town square closest to the guard camp. The reasons being that it already had a stage, and it was big enough to fit that many people.

Right now, False was helping to set up the fifty or so racks of chairs left to be set up, after already having made it through the first twenty five(with help, of course). She finished setting up a rack, and went to go grab another. On her way however, she bumped into someone.

“Hey! Watch it!” they yelled. It was Cleo.

“Sorry, just trying to get my work done.” False explained. 

“Whatever, it’s fine.” Cleo huffed indignantly. “What are you doing anyways?”

“Setting up some chairs. You can help if you’d like.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Well, if you’re not going to help, could you please go somewhere else? You’re kind of in the way.” False asked, starting to get annoyed. Cleo’s response was to say nothing and continue standing where she was. “Alright, I’ll just go around then.” When False moved to do so however, Cleo took a step in the same direction, continuing to block her path. When False tried to go the other way, Cleo did the same thing. The game continued until False yelled, “Why? Why do you keep doing this?”

“Keep doing what? I’m not doing anything.” Cleo responded, that same smug look on her face as always. 

“You keep  _ pestering _ me. For no reason.”

“Oh, we both know the reason.”

“Actually, Cleo, I  _ don’t _ know the reason. So could you please tell me, so we can just talk it out and stop having these petty arguments?” Cleo only stared coldly at her. “Fine. If you aren’t going to say anything, then please leave so I can get my work done in peace.” False said.

“Jeez. I know you’re desperate to prove yourself, but it's just some chairs, mate. No need to get so worked up.” Cleo retorted condescendingly.

“What do you mean ‘desperate to prove myself’?”

“To prove that you’ve actually earned your spot here.” Cleo replied.

False had no idea what was about to come out of her mouth after that, but she knew it wouldn’t have been good. So she was more than thankful when the next words she heard were not hers, but Ren’s.

“Hey, you two!” He greeted cheerfully and waved as he made his way over to them. “What’s going on. Thought I heard some shouting over here.”

“Don’t worry, Ren. Everything’s fine. Just having a friendly chat.” Cleo was quick to respond, wrapping an arm around False’s shoulders, and putting on a fake friendly smile. Ren didn’t look like he quite believed her, but nodded and continued nonetheless.

“Anyways. . uh, Cleo. Doc said he needed you for something.”

“Really? Guess I got to go. See you around.” Cleo said to False with that same fake friendliness as she headed back towards the camp. False just huffed indignantly.

“I take it you two were  _ not _ having a friendly chat?” Ren asked.

“Nope. Quite the opposite in fact. I just don’t get why she hates me so much. I keep putting in effort to try and work this out, but it’s like she  _ wants _ to keep hating me.”

“I’ve known Cleo a long time. When it comes to new people, it takes her a while to warm up to them. So don’t be too hard on yourself, she’s like this with everyone.”

“So then how’d you two become friends?” False asked.

“Our parents hung out, so we did too. She’s really the only good friend I’ve ever had until now.” Ren replied simply. False hummed and nodded in response. They both continued setting up the chairs, until False decided she had done enough of it to check it off her list, which was a little past noon.

  
  


\--------

  
  


Grian woke up to find himself and Mumbo entangled in each other’s limbs. Not an entirely unpleasant way to wake up, but he didn’t linger on that for more than a second. Grian was more concerned about whether or not he had managed to further injure Mumbo’s shoulder, which thankfully, it didn’t look like he had. 

His vision was still a bit blurry from waking up, but he was able to make out a small note on the door. Being careful not to wake Mumbo up, he slowly pulled himself out of the bed. That plan was thrown out the window however when he felt Mumbo starting to wake up beside him, groaning sleepily as he slowly sat up. Grian chuckled at how tired and disheveled he looked as he grabbed the note off the door.

“What’s that?” Mumbo asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s see.” Grian replied, and read the note.

“ _Grian and Mumbo, when you two wake up, I need you to go pick some things up. Below is a list of what you need to get. Just drop them off by the officers’ quarters when you’re done._

_-X_ ”

“Well. Looks like we have some work to do.” Grian said.

  
  


\--------

  
  


The shopping trip was very successful, albeit a bit long. It was around sunset when they finished. They were on their way back to camp, both of their hands filled with a couple bags each, when Grian noticed two people coming towards them. Instantly he recognized them as two of the people they had fought with the day before, one of them being the guy who hurt Mumbo. And they looked very,  _ very _ angry. 

It looked like Mumbo had noticed them too, indicated by the quiet and somewhat fearful “Oh no.” Grian heard from him. Soon they were backed into an alley.

“Well if it isn’t our friends from yesterday,” one of them sneered. “Hey, Zee, isn’t that the one whose shoulder you dislocated?” she said, and pointed to Mumbo.

“I think it is, Pearl.”

“Hey. We don't want a fight right now. We’re just trying to-” Grian started, but was cut off by Zee.

“Really? Because that’s not what it looked like yesterday.”

“Well, yesterday, you were attacking innocent people. We weren’t just going to let you keep doing that.” Grian retorted.

“Oh how noble of you.” Pearl replied smugly. “Anyways, the only reason you won is because your little patrol or whatever you were outnumbered us. But now, it looks like the tables have turned.” she said, and looked back at Zee. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Mumbo, when I tell you to, run and get help.” Grian whispered, and shoved the bags he was holding into Mumbo’s hands. Mumbo, despite looking very unsure about Grian’s plan, nodded.

“Oh yeah, let’s make ‘em pay.” Zee said, but before he could do anything, Grian threw a punch, hitting him square in the nose.

Pearl came straight toward him, ready to strike, but Grian was able to dodge with practiced ease. But now he was surrounded, and Mumbo was still stuck in the back of the alley. While he was thinking up a strategy to get Mumbo out of there, Grian felt Zee come up behind him and shove him towards Pearl, who then proceeded to throw him behind her.

Grian was now, quite literally, cornered. Pearl and Zee stepped ever closer, ready to pummel him.

“Looks like you have nowhere to run.” Zee said.

“Nope. But he does.” Grian replied, and pointed behind the two attackers to Mumbo, who was making his escape. Mambo looked to Grian, and Grian nodded. With that, Mumbo was out of there.

“Pearl. You go after him. I’ll handle this one.” Zee ordered. And then Pearl was off.

Grian used Zee’s small moment of distraction to get the upper hand. He launched himself forward, and pushed Zee back, causing him to stumble. He tried to strike out to hit Grian, but said man was already behind him, tripping him.

Within moments, Grian had Zee pinned.

Now all they had to do was wait.

  
  


\--------

  
  


Mumbo knew exactly where he was going. Not to the camp. That would be too obvious. Instead, he was headed to another place he knew other guards would be. 

The town square.

With each turn of a corner, he checked to make sure Pearl was still following him. Luckily for Mumbo, she was. He could tell he was getting close, just another left here, then right, and,

“Hey, can I get some help over here?” To Mumbo’s surprise, it was Doc who answered him.

“Mumbo? I thought X sent you and Grian to get supplies.” he said.

“He did,” Mumbo replied, setting the bags down on one of the chairs. “But we ran into a bit of trouble.”

“What trouble?” Doc asked. Then Pearl finally caught up, and Doc’s face went cold. “ _ You _ .” he said. Pearl looked like she had realized she was surrounded, as evidenced by the quiet “Oh, no.” Mumbo heard from her. As she was being dragged away, presumably to jail, Mumbo remembered something.

“Grian!”

  
  


\--------

  
  


“Seriously, where is he?” Grian asked himself. He still had Zee pinned to the ground. As if on cue, Mumbo came speeding around the corner, Doc and the rest of a patrol in tow and grocery bags in hand. Soon, Zee was dragged away to face the same fate as Pearl.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you too badly did he?” Mumbo asked, sounding slightly panicked.

“Yes, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry so much.” Grian reassured him.

“I know, it’s just, after what he did to me, I didn’t want you to get hurt the way I did.”

“And I appreciate that. I really do, but, I can handle myself, alright?”

“Alright.” Mumbo agreed. “But I’ll always be there for you when you can’t.”

“I know you will.” Grian replied, and gave his friend a small smile, which Mumbo returned. As they walked back to camp, Doc approached them.

“Great job tonight you two. We’ve actually been trying to catch those two and the rest of their group for a few weeks now.” he told them.

“It was nothing really. Grian did most of the work.” Mumbo said a bit sheepishly, looking away as he spoke.

“Give yourself more credit, Mumbo. You were the one who led Pearl to the guards. And then led the guards to Zee.” Grian shot back.

“You both did good work. Xisuma will be very impressed with you when I report back to him.” Doc said. Mumbo and Grian looked at each other, both of them with excited expressions on their faces.

It wasn’t long before everyone was back at camp, and settled in for the night. Doc had taken the bags of supplies, probably to give to Xisuma for whatever it was he needed them for. 

Grian and Mumbo recounted their adventure to the rest of their fellow trainees, who all seemed very impressed, save for Cleo, who was more concerned with going to sleep. And so, that’s what they all did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAHHHHHH It’s finally done! It was a lot of effort to do, but I did it, and it’s done, and I finally have it out. Like I said last chapter, I was on vacation and did not feel like working on it so that’s part of why it took so long. The other part was that I didn’t want to rush this. I want this to be as good as it can be, and I can’t do that by giving myself a week to write a chapter. So I’m going to try and update every two weeks on mondays rather than weekly.
> 
> And thank you all so much for the positive comments. It warms my heart to see you all enjoying this so much.
> 
> A small bit of behind the scenes information, I used balls of clay to help me map out the fight at the end. Also foreshadowing go brr.
> 
> Okay. That’s all from me. Have a fantastic day/night!


End file.
